Ethraksha
"Ever wondered 'What if I had a stronger version of Magic but was completely uncontrollable, incredibly dangerous to be near, and possibly the reason why the world ended twice?' Yeah me neither, but here we are." Ethraksha is the secondary Magic System I have in place in the Elementalist series. Technically it's the primary one, but this stuff is introduced VERY late into the story, so I don't want to confuse anyone. Ethraksha = Flow Ethraksha is made from Flow that's been concentrated to impossibly high levels. concentrated Flow...or Flow is highly diluted Ethraksha? same thing to me idc And since this is a rule, Mental Links can be established with Ethraksha and controlled just like Flow. However, it is still very unstable. Making direct contact with it either causes a Flow Overload reaction or will spontaneously Transmute, most likely hurting anyone near it at the time. Volatility to Organic Matter Ethrakshan tends to violently explode with green lightning/plasma when it makes contact with something alive. It could take as little as a drop of Ethraksha to create a bolt that could kill a man from a football field away. Or, if it was a living thing that can use Magic, the Ethraksha would transmute into the Element corresponding to their Affinity. Which could (probably always will depending on how often I use this) causing a sort of Transmutation "chain reaction" with the Flow inside of them. Basically instantly killing them via Flow Overload Life's Dependence on Ethraksha All Living things spread minute amounts of Ethraksha throughout themselves and use it to sustain their life. The amount contained by a life form needs to be delicately balanced, as all things should be; any more and it'll die from Flow Overload. Any less and it'll die from Flow Deprivation. Humans can create Life Essence via organic processes. This requires Flow, which they intake during inspiration. Breath control is very important for people. * Breath fast = too much Flow = Too much Ethraksha = Flow Overload = Dead * Breath fast = Too much Flow = Use more Magic = Not dead * Hold Breath = Not enough Flow = Not enough Ethraksha = Flow Deprivation = Dead * Hold Breath = Not enough Flow = Start breathing faster = enough Ethraksha = not Dead EthrA After The Great Kings found Tomahtra and used it to give all animals (including Humans) the ability to use Flow the same way Elementalists use Ethraksha, they made it so that the L.U.C.Y gene was much more common, but also multiple times weaker. Anyone or anything with this crippled gene are said to have bonus EthrA (Ethraksha Affinity). This can be explained more simply by saying that some living things are able to contain more Ethraksha than they need without dying. This is called having an Ethrakshan Affinity. This can be measured in percentages. As a baseline, living things with no Ethrakshan Affinity at all are said to have 1% "EthrA". Possessing over 1% EthrA is quite rare, but not as uncommon as one might initially think. In Humans, excess Ethraksha tends to collect in or behind the Eyes, making the colour of the iris turn green when EthrA percentages go above 20%. The colour becomes more intense with higher percentages of EthrA. Ethraksha is quite reflective, so this also makes the eyes shimmer in the light. 50% EthrA is enough to dye a person's eye a deep Cerulean colour, but sometimes, the excess Ethraksha will be spread out across the irises of both eyes. Access to all Eight Elements People with bonus EthrA are able to Transmute Flow into all of the eight Elements instead of just five. Think of it as an addition to all Element's power by a percentage of that person's Affinity: * 50% EthrA would add 0.5 times the power of that person's Affinity to all other Elements, including the ones that they cannot use. * 75% EthrA adds 0.75 times the power of that person's Affinity to all Elements. * 1% EthrA is negligible. Everyone can "TECHNICALLY" use all eight Elements, it's incredibly weak and taxing on the body and thus not worth mentioning. We get into that later, not important here. Do you get it? You add a percentage of a person's Affinity to all other Elements, based on the amount of EthrA that person has. Example Affinity Graphs because I don't trust my descriptive skills. With Random Affinities. 10% EthrA (Wind Affinity) 25%EthrA (Earth Affinity) 50% EthrA (Ice Affinity) 75% EthrA (Steam Affinity) 100% EthrA (Lava Affinity) Ethraksha's Life Enhancing Abilities Any amount of bonus EthrA gives the affected power over these, to varying degrees (depending on bonus EthrA amount, of course) : # Speeding up or Slowing down biological processes including but not limited to Aging. # The ability to alter the DNA of Living things # The ability to "Program" Ethraksha (discussed later on), which in itself includes (not limited to): ## Giving life to Inanimate Objects (including dead people) ## Creating customized weaponry (such as Artifacts) Ethrakshan Programming As well as everything mentioned above, Ethraksha can absorb information and/or carry out instructions. That, is a very vague statement. But it's similar to a self-teaching computer program, that doesn't teach itself. Ethrakshan will completely absorb everything that doesn't explode or die on contact. It uses the information it gained from the absorbed to "do" (Noramlly, just copying it's appearance) How much and what information is taken from DNA and Verbal Commands (those two specifically) seems to be completely random, rarely ever taking every single piece of information. With every other form of information, Ethraksha absorbs 100% of it. Pallobalt If you want to get Ethraksha to do what you want it to, try using your own thoughts (Mental Commands). This requires you to make contact with the body of Ethraksha you wish to "Program, But since it is what it is, it'll normally'' ''kill people before they can instruct it. You can also (relatively) safely Program Ethrakshan by containing it within Pallobalt before doing so. This is how Flow Crystals and Artifacts were by the Great Kings. Ethrakshan Organisms Ethraksha that has absorbed even the slightest amount of DNA (from organic matter) is thereon referred to as an Ethrakshan Organism Ethrakshan Organisms take the appearance of whatever they have absorbed. The more of one particular thing is absorbed, the more the Ethrakshan Organism will look like it. (If you chuck a bunch of birds into a pool of Ethraksha, you're just gonna get a giant bird.) When Ethraksha absorbs lots of DNA from animals, there is a chance that it'll gain intelligence, with sentience following shortly after. This is kinda rare though, seeing as Ethraksha normally ends up absorbing a bunch of plants or unintelligent organisms before something capable of bestowing intelligence/sentience comes along. Even then, it's normally something unintelligent like a rodent or a bird, rarely ever gaining sentience. Humanoid Ethrakshan organisms would be very rare, if not for the events leading up to the 2nd Calamity. The intelligence of an Ethrakshan Organism would eventually allow it to pick and choose what information to absorb. If you haven't realised it yet, Region Tyrants and Predaters are the results of Intelligent Ethrakshan Organisms. Not necessarily Sentient, just intelligent. Trivia * There is a difference between people with 100% EthrA and full blown Elementalists. The latter have the potential to create their own Magic Systems unlike anything written down on the wiki, whilst the former are still limited to the powers of Shuichi and Shuji Tsuneo. They're also not immortal like the Elementalists were. * It's said that Predaters are only as intelligent as they are because they absorbed a lot of humans during the early days. * People with higher EthrA percentages are less common than those with lower ones. * A sports hall filled with Flow will only make a drop or so of Life Essence. * Varying amounts of EthrA are actually the result of that person having a stronger version of the Great King's Original Gene